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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Fairy Moths and kin (Adeloidea) » Tridentaformidae » Tridentaforma » Tridentaforma fuscoleuca - Hodges#0195 (Tridentaforma fuscoleuca)
Photo#895080
Moth - Tridentaforma fuscoleuca
Copyright © 2014 Alice Abela

Moth - Tridentaforma fuscoleuca
Burton Mesa Ecological Reserve, Santa Barbara County, California, USA
February 19, 2014
Size: ~3mm
Found flying around manzanitas in sandy Burton Mesa chaparral habitat

Images of this individual: tag all
Moth - Tridentaforma fuscoleuca Moth - Tridentaforma fuscoleuca
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Contributed by Alice Abela on 19 February, 2014 - 9:16pm
Last updated 28 February, 2014 - 2:09pm

Moved
Moved from Moths.
… Terry Harrison, 28 February, 2014 - 2:09pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Alice Abela, 25 February, 2014 - 9:45pm login or register to post comments

Tineidae
There appears to be a folded maxillary palp visible in this shot. That, combined with the shaggy head vestiture and the general size, shape, and coloration, would point to Tineidae, although I don't know which species it might be.
… Terry Harrison, 19 February, 2014 - 9:47pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks!
Not sure this will help, but the full size image is on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44150996@N06/12647308643/sizes/o/
… Alice Abela, 19 February, 2014 - 11:31pm login or register to post comments

 
What about...
Could Tridentaforma fuscoleuca be a match? The association with manzanitas (in this case Arctostaphylos purissima) would fit too.
… Alice Abela, 22 February, 2014 - 12:39am login or register to post comments

 
Powell, J. A. & P. A. Opler, Moths of Western North America
Looking up Tridentiforma fuscoleuca, the size is much larger than those I'm seeing, but the book says "Similar but appreciably smaller moths, which likely comprise a complex of species, occur widely in the western United States. They fly around manzanita (Arctostaphylos, Ericaceae) in early spring...". Maybe this is one of those?
… Alice Abela, 22 February, 2014 - 12:50am login or register to post comments

 
Yes
I too rejected T. fuscoleuca on basis of the size disparity, but given the comments in the Powell and Opler book, I agree that your moth is either that species or something close and that it should be placed under T. fuscoleuca (at least until we know more about these moths).
… Terry Harrison, 27 February, 2014 - 4:29pm login or register to post comments

Maybe...
Maybe something in the Gelechioidea?
… Alice Abela, 19 February, 2014 - 9:22pm login or register to post comments

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